01:47 am - Musings on Portland and on Zuccotti ParkI was downtown yesterday, and saw the Occupy Portland protest, with a portion of the park blocks transformed into a literal tent-city. It's been peaceful and quiet in Portland, which is typically the case with protests (at least since the 1999 May Day protest, which ended with a police chief leaving and a much improved climate for protests. I have however never seen a protest like this one, literally hundreds of tents. And tomorrow, the center of this will be challenged, with Mayor Bloomberg in NYC sending in the police to clear them out of Zuccotti Park. I hope things are peaceful and that no one on either side is hurt. Also, I don't know what this will mean - we have something that has already gotten notice, and may become big, but it is new and fragile, and in two weeks could easily be a footnote in history. I'm starting to have some vague glimmer that there might be hope for a growing number of people to advocate for economic change, but such changes are difficult and the mass media is now fairly hostile to the idea. Currently public opinion is mildly positive - Eighty-two percent of Americans have heard of the protest movement, and while 38% view it favorably, 35% are undecided. A minority -- 24% -- views the protests unfavorably., but violence by the protester could change this in an instant, and the general public could forget is so easily. We shall see,Current Mood:thoughtful